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Guest mix 002: Wu-Lu

It’s safe to say that south London is home to a multitude of musical talent. From Andrew Ashong to Loyle Carner, to Ray Blk to Poppy Ajudha, south of the river seem to have it going on. Musician, producer and DJ, Wu-Lu only serves to verify this testament. He has produced tracks for the likes of Ego Ella May, has a residency at Dalston’s NTS radio, alongside starting up and running a vinyl market for certified crate diggers. Wu-Lu had provided the second instalment of our guest mix series. This offering is filled with contemporary and vintage soulful grooves; gal-dem caught up with the musical mastermind for a quick chat.

gal-dem: Who is your dream collaborator dead or alive?

Wu-Lu: Andre 3000

What was the first song you ever produced?

It was a song called ‘Wind Style’ on Reason 3.0 sh*t was dope still got it now.

Looking back then vs. now, are there technicalities or creative processes that have always stuck with you?

To be honest I started off just using any of the software tools for any part of the song, not knowing if it was meant to be used in those ways and as time went on I kind of lost that sense of freedom to just mix and match random tools together to create different sounds but now I have found other ways of doing so.

If you could describe Brixton as a sound, what would it be?

It’s microwave going off… Like an idea clicking in your mind but with a really warm sense of family. Random, I know!

Tell us about your vinyl market, Crates. Why is it important to keep this method of collecting music alive?

As consumers, we need to be able to give back into something we take a lot from. So I feel that having a physical copy of something brings back a sense of reality in this digital world we live in. Through the monthly event, Crates try to be living proof of that ethos.

Is that what encouraged you to make your cassette-only EP Ginga?

Yeah, basically I wanted to have something that people could hold, without me having the expense of pressing a record. But who knows – I may put out a record of it too.

You have a monthly slot on NTS Radio – 92 Points. What role do you think independent radio is playing in the circulation of music at the moment?

It creates a platform for anyone doing dope stuff in music to just be free with it – not thinking about the content of it too much but it’s all about just playing it. So stations like NTS, Balamii and Radar, those peeps are really letting people experiment.

You’re in a studio session with Andre 3000, Flying Lotus and Georgia Anne Muldrow. In a sentence – what is the outcome of this collaboration?